Top 10 Portland Restaurants – September 2016

My Top 10 Portland Restaurants along with my next 15 for September 2016

This is the first update to my Top 10 Portland restaurants list since it was originally published in March. It’s the only local list that’s immune from p.r. and advertising pressures and is actually written by someone who’s lived in Portland forever, has been eating out almost nightly for 20 years (if you know me, you can tell {sigh}) and who travels extensively to sample all that’s out there beyond Portland city limits. In other words, the standards underlying the list are honesty, integrity and perspective.

This is not to say I’m unbiased. I am freak for big bold flavors and especially appreciate the tastes, textures and ingredients from around Asia. All other things being equal, I don’t like food TV “stars” and the inflated egos that tend go with them. Nor will I be promoting the restaurants of the (few) truly odious characters in the business. I haven’t consumed alcohol in more than 20 years, so even if your favorite bar happens to sling some decent hash, I still might not have made it in.

As I wrote originally, these lists (the Top 10 and Next 15) are a snapshot in time. My favorite places change with new openings, the carousel of the seasons and evolving experience. If you don’t agree with me, fine. Go where ever you want. Leave a nasty comment if it makes you feel better. Won’t bother me. Any list like this is, after all, fundamentally subjective. If the list serves as a relatively reliable resource for locals and visitors to map out their Portland meals, I will consider my mission accomplished.

Top 10, in no particular order:

Aviary: Sarah Pliner’s boundary-less cuisine is best in class, yet often overlooked. Each dish is carefully conceived and scrupulously executed by Pliner herself.

St. Jack/La Moule: Westside, eastside, all around the town. The NW Portland location’s signature romp through the French countryside has proven infectious, supplementing the mussel/frites focus at the younger SE sibling.

Ataulaa: This one is inspired by the contemporary kitchens of Spain’s Mediterranean coast. Infinitely creative modern and classic tapas are the foundation at Ataula.

Castagna: Elegant dining barely registers on Portland’s culinary seismograph. At least we have Justin Woodward, a celebrant of both local ingredients and technical innovation. White tablecloths and doting service complete the scene.

Coquine: “Once in awhile you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.” Chef Katy Millard delivers consistently brilliant yet humble dishes in her Mt. Tabor hotspot which, at first glance, might be confused with a simple neighborhood café.

Podnah’s: If Podnah’s was open anywhere in the Lone Star state, the barbecue obsessed would be lining up in the scorching sun for Rodney Muirhead’s Texas-style smoke-smooched brisket and lamb ribs.

Smallwares: Jo Ware’s quasi-Asian funhouse is where kale is magically transformed into an edible substance. Yet, it’s shutting down in a couple of weeks. The listing here (until the next update) is a tribute…and an indictment of shallow Portland palates.

Pho Oregon: Go for the pho, stay to sample from all the other corners of the long menu of Vietnamese delights.

The Original Pancake House (on SW Barbur Blvd.): This is a real breakfast restaurant serving dozens of types of pancakes and appetite-busting omelets, not some dainty hipster-ish café with missing vowels or space cadet service.

Pok Pok: With far-flung interests around the US and Thailand, it’s hard to imagine Andy Ricker is as engaged locally as he once was, but the fan worship at the SE Division Street flagship bespeaks its continuing transcendence.

Holdfast: Will Preisch and Joel Stocks are a rare duo. They prepare and serve delightful modernist-leaning multicourse tasting menus to engaged eaters (cajoling them re-use their silverware), weave entertaining tales and still seem to enjoy working in creative tandem

Mucca Osteria: The best Italian food in Portland despite failing to appear as even a blip on the trendoid radar.

Mi Mero Mole: If my friend Nick Zukin deleted all his social media accounts and stuck to crafting his deeply flavored guisados—stewed meat or vegetable fillings for tacos, burritos or quesadillas–the lines at his places would be never-ending.

Taylor Railworks: Combining ingredients of the moment in ways that don’t occur to us mere mortals is Chef Erik Van Kley’s calling card.

Top shops in transition: Roe, the Portlander’s Le Bernardin, has escaped SE Division’s urban planning nightmare for a future location near downtown; and Nomad, the previously unsettled outpost of modernist whimsy from chefs Ryan Fox and Ali Matteis is finally set to lay down roots on NE 24th just off Sandy Blvd.

Reader Interactions

7 comments:

Three visits to Smallwares over 2-3 years with the same conclusion three times: creative but mixed and inconsistent execution. The owner’s letter whining about the neighborhood and Zussman’s BS above about “small palates” (which is a surrogate for her whining) are ponderous excuses for a restaurant that failed to fulfill its potential (fyi, i don’t live in the neighborhood). Aviary is a great comparative contrast. Insanely creative, Asian-inspired cuisine that’s consistent and well executed.

Mystified by Podnah’s love. It’s as if everyone likes dried out meat. Have sampled many times. Always dreadful. (Oh and Ken’s is better than that electric oven nonsense on Hawthorne.) Yes I do feel better! Thanks!

The Original Pancake House on Barbur is one of my families favorites! My 8 year old always asks to go to the “Lincoln House” because it reminds her of an old story I read to her about Abraham Lincoln. LOL! Anyway, glad you included it. I have been to some of the other locations across the US, and the one in Portland is special.

Thanks for the Mucca Osteria reccomendation! Took my mom there for her birthday dinner last night they could not have been more accomodating. Amazing service, and excellent food – much lighter than I expected.

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Mediterranean street food - craft beer and sangria. Nice patio set back from the road and screened by plants. If you get to hot roll up doors let you escape inside but still have the air flowing through. Doner kebabs (spit of rotating meat), fries, Turkish food. … Read More...